An old friend is on holiday in Cornwall, so we agreed to meet up and wander around Tintagel. I don't normally venture to a touristic spot in July! It was busy. (I knew it would be, so for possibly the first and last time in my life, I actually arrived somewhere first and had to hang about. Fortunately, there are lots of places to get icecream in Tintagel, and about 999999999 friendly dogs to talk to, so I was well occupied eating icecream and petting friendly dogs. I could have quite happily done that all day.

The tide was low, so we went and had a look in Merlin's Cave:

There's the bridge up to the castle, and also the Giant Rock that must be climbed that is only accessible at extreme low tide. The RNLI were whizzing around the cove in an RIB while we bounded along the beach meeting yet more friendly dogs. I think they (the RNLI, not the friendly dogs) were waiting for the tide to come back up to find out if anyone would get stuck on the rocks. I, unlike the athletic 10-year-old member of the party, did not scale a rock. But I did pick up quite a lot of fishing line. I find fishing line very handy to have about the place (it's perfect for hanging pictures and making necklaces!) and also it's a horribly nasty thing for wildlife to leave on a beach.

Another cove (on the other side) and some people up on the castle admiring the remnants of the great hall. I thought of cropping them out, but I find them pleasing brightly dressed, so in the end I left them in. No seals :-(

There was so much fuss in the press about this sculpture, about how it represented the Disnification of Tintagel, etc. I love it. It's not huge, and the visiting tourists all thought it was amazing and were constantly taking one another's photos standing next to it. You can see how the sword hilt is all shiny from people taking a grip on it.

The Fougou. ' an underground, dry-stone structure found on Iron Age or Romano-British defended settlement sites in Cornwall.' I'd forgotten how long and impressive this thing is. It must have been a right git to excavate up here on this rocky headland.

Archaeologists, discovering at first hand how much work excavating things on a headland is.

People complain about that little King Arthur statue, and the Merlin head in the cave, but apparently not about this EYESORE OF EYESORES the Camelot Hotel, a seriously ugly Victorian brick extravaganza which looms loathsomely on the skyline, apparently going quite unnoticed, presumably through the power of the Somebody Else's Problem Field, or possibly the 'this is over a hundred years old, therefore it's FINE' effect.

On the way down again, we met these delightful spaniels, who were SO ENTHUSIASTIC to be visiting the castle, they were almost falling over their short legs on the steps!

I didn't take my hounds, because I thought it might be too hot, and also too busy for them (specially Rosie) but having seen just how dog-welcoming Tintagel is (big signs on the cafes and shops 'DOGS ON LEAD VERY WELCOME!' and dog water bowls absolutely everywhere! ) I may pop back with them for another visit at a slightly less busy time of year.

Yes, definitely Frodo. It could also work for anyone else if the tunnel curved or turned at right angles to run parallel to the hillside, so that only the entrance hall faced directly towards the sea. Then the occupant could sit outside looking at the view on nice days, and sit indoors looking out through a window on bad weather days.